Northwestern University fired longtime coach Pat Fitzgerald on July 10 amid allegations of widespread hazing within the football program, according to media reports.
"The head coach is ultimately responsible for the culture of his team," NU President Michael Schill wrote in an open letter, per ESPN. ""The hazing we investigated was widespread and clearly not a secret within the program, providing Coach Fitzgerald with the opportunity to learn what was happening. Either way, the culture in Northwestern Football, while incredible in some ways, was broken in others."
Schill also stated, "The hazing included forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature, in clear violation of Northwestern policies and values."
Fitzgerald, in a statement to ESPN, said he was "surprised when I learned that the president of Northwestern unilaterally revoked our agreement without any prior notification and subsequently terminated my employment," citing an agreed-upon two-week suspension. He also indicated that his agent, Bryan Harlan, and veteran trial attorney Dan Webb would "take the necessary steps to protect my rights in accordance with the law."
The school had earlier said that it would reconsider penalties for Fitzgerald after new details emerged surrounding allegations of hazing in the sports program, ESPN reported in a separate piece.
Schill, in a letter sent July 8 to the university community, wrote that he "may have erred in weighing the appropriate sanction" for Fitzgerald, who began serving a two-week unpaid suspension on July 7.
Fitzgerald's initial suspension was among the measures Northwestern announced after concluding a six-month investigation it commissioned into hazing allegations made by an anonymous whistleblower/former player. The former player, whose allegations were detailed in a report from The Daily Northwestern, told ESPN that he shared his thoughts and experiences July 9 in a conversation with Schill.
The former player, who requested to remain anonymous, told The Daily Northwestern that sexualized hazing activities took place in the team's locker room. One practice, called "running," involved a younger player being restrained while eight to 10 older players engaged in a sexualized act in the locker room.
Andrew Davis